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According to a government press release, the Department of Communications has sped up to deliver digital migration benefits to residents of the Free State by teaming up with broadcasters including e.tv, the SABC, MultiChoice and Star Sat. Officials will be present across the Free State province to educate the public about digital migration as the deadline to switch off the province by end of December 2018 draws closer. This follows Minister Nomvula Mokonyane’s announcement last month that the Broadcasting Digital Migration Project Management Office has until the end of the year to complete the migration process from analogue to digital in the Free State Province. “We have adopted an inclusive approach to partner with local television manufacturers and the broadcasters to educate the public about the digital migration project and the options available to consumers, especially television viewing households that do not qualify for the government-subsidized set-top-boxes,” said Aldred Dreyer, Executive Director Broadcasting Digital Migration Project Office. The Department is encouraging analogue television-viewing households who are looking to buy new television sets, to buy the one that come with an integrated digital tuner. “People who do not qualify for fully-subsidised government set-top-boxes – in other words those who earn above the stipulated threshold of R3200 per month – have an option of buying a new integrated digital television (IDTV) set with the DTT decoder built in. The local television manufacturers have made these IDTV available through major retail outlets across the country. “The department is also working on a plan to ensure that Direct-to-Home satellite devices are available at retail stores for the non-subsided market. Households that are on pay-television platforms are already consuming digital television services and therefore do not need to migrate,” said Dreyer. In the coming days the Department will be amplifying messaging on broadcasting digital migration on all platforms to educate the public about what they need to migrate from analogue to digital. “Our task is to ensure that the remaining analogue television viewing households migrate to digital platforms. I am confident that come year-end, the Free State will be completed, then we can move to another province,” added Dreyer.

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